Feeding mechanism



June 16, 1925. 1,541,846-

' F. G. PURINTON FEEDING MECHANISM.

Filed Au. 1, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V nwmron 7 4 mama Patented June 16, 1925.

FORREST PUfR-INTON, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOE TO THE PATENT BUTTON COMPANY, OF WATERBURY,

CONNECTIGUT, CORPORATION OF GON- FEEDING MECHANISM.

Application filed August 1, 1924. Serial No. '?29,564

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, Fonnnsr (.il. PUnrN'roN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of \Vaterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a magazine or feed mechanism and has particular reference to a mechanism which will automatically select and deliver in a predetermined position, buttons, eyelets, screws, tacks, and many other similar articles which have been indiscriminately placed or thrown into the hop per. The object of my lllVGIltlOlldS to proide a magazine or feed mechanism which is simple in COHSlZIUClJlOlI and composed of relatively few parts, all of which are readily accessible for reducing jams or for cleaning and also for charging and emptying.

A further object is to provide a magazine or feed mechanism in which the art cles to be selected or delivered are indlscrnnmately thrown or placed and which will operate at a fairly high speed so that a considerable quantity of articles can be automatically selected and delivered.

t A further object is to provide a mechanism of the character mentioned with the parts so arranged and constructed that there will be no danger or likehhood of the buttons or other articles being marred or scratched or becoming wedged between rotating parts.

A further object is to provide a feed mechanism wherein the various parts can be easily and readily machined and require but few finished surfaces and wherein the hopper is merely placed upon a base and l1pO11 \Vl11( 3l1 it is held by its own weight, so that it may at any time be readily removed and cleaned for the purpose of quickly and eas1ly empty log the buttons 01- other articles therefrom.

A further object is to provide a magazine or feed mechanism which is adapted to automatically select those buttons or similar articles which face in a certain direction and by the action of gravity cause those buttons not facing in the desired direction to slide back to the lowermost part of the hopper during the rotation thereof, advantage being taken of the dissimilar construction of the opposite faces of the button,

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the improved magazine or feed mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter described and claimed, and in such variations and modifications thereof as will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my invention relates, it being understood that changes may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit thereof. 7

The preferred embodiment of my invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a view in vertical my novel feed mechanism;

Figure 2 is a view in top plan looking in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1;

Figure is a view in section illustrating the support of those buttons facing in one direction Figure 4f is a similar view illustrating the unstaple support of those buttons facing in the opposite direction l igure 5 is a view in section of a somewhat modified form of feed mechanism;

Figure 6 is a view in plan of the hopper and adjacent parts;

l igure 7 a fragmental View of a further modification of my invention, theparts being particularly arranged for the feeding of tacks;

Figure 8 is a view in front elevation of the same;

Figure 9 is a fragmental view in section of a further modification of my invention; and

section of l igure 10 is fragmenial view wherein the slots are su'l'liciently long to accommodate two or more of the articles being fed.'

lfteferring specifically to the several views,

wherein similar reference numerals desigill) nate correspol'iding parts througl'iout, my

novel feeding mechanism comprises a base 10 which provided with a cylindrical projection 11, the axis 12 of which is located at an angle of approximately 45 to the vertical. The upper edge of the cylindrical projection 11 is bevelled as at 14, and which bevelled edge or surface is at an angle of approximately 45 to the axial line 12 so i that that portion of the surface 14 which oocupies the uppermost posit on will line horizontally, while that portion of the surface which occupies the lowermost position will be approximately vertical. An opening or chute extends through the base and terminates at the surface 14 at the uppermost position thereof and which forms a discharge outlet for the buttons and other articles, as will hereinafter appear.

Rotatably mounted upon the base 10 is the hopper it}, the same being open at the top as at 11'', and being mounted upon the base 10 has its axis also located at approximately 4-53 to the vertical. A portion of the inner walls of the hopper extent s parallel to its axis while the remaining portions are inwardlytapered at an angle of approximately 45 to the axis to thereby form the conical portion 18. The lower portion of the hopper is open and its down over and rotatably engages the cylindrical projection of the base. The conical portion 18 of the hopper is provided with a ninnber of open ended slots '20, each slot being of suflicient size so as to rereceive a button Or other article therein, these slots extending throughout the entire length of the conical portion and being closed at their lower extremities by the bevelled surface l l of the base with the exception of that particular slot which registers with the chute.

The hopper and associated parts are slowly rotated by means of a small pinion .21 which meshes with an internal gear .22 carried by the hopper. The pinion til is mounted upon the shaft "23, the lower and protruding extremity of which is illustrated as b ing driven by the belt and belt pulley 24-.

In some instances I find that it is desirable to impart to the hopper an intermittentmotion and to cause each slot to momentarily pause in front of the chute and I may accomplish this in several ways, possibly the simplest way, and the one which I have illustrated, being to form the pinion 21 as the segment of a complete gear, the number of teeth upon the segment being just sui'iicicnt to move the hopper the distance between adjacent slots so that each revolution of the segmental pinion will bring a new slot in front of the chute, it being assumed that there will be suflicient friction to prevent rotation of the hopper during the time the gears are out of mesh. To this latter end I may also provide a pawl which engages suitable notches N upon the hopper so as to hold the hopper stationary after each movement by the segmental gear.

lVith the parts as thus arranged, a quantity of buttons or other articles are dumped into the hopper and naturally fall to the lowermost level thereof. As the hopper is slowly rotated. those articles which lie against the wall thereof become deposited in the slots and as the hopper rotates the side walls of the slot carry the articles forwardly and upwardly, the back wall of the slot upon which they rest passing to a posi tion approximately vertical. The bevelled surface 14 is of restricted width, so that as the back Walls of the slots approach the vertical, the tendency of the articles to move out of the slots is only prevented by the bevelled edge 14. The buttons or similar articles being of dissimilar configuration as to their front-and back, and the restricted extent of the bevelled surface 14, provide that those articles which'happen to be positioned face down in the slots will be prevented from falling back and will be carried upwardly until they come opposite the clinic down which they will immediately fall. On the other hand, thoscarticles residing in the upwardly traveling slots which happen to be positioned face up will find insufficient bearing surface upon the bevelled surface .l-l; and after having traveled upwardly with the slots for a certain distance will slip out of the slots and pass down again to the lowermost position of the hopper and will thus be prevented from reaching and passing down the chute 15, thus effecting an automatic selection and feeding of the buttons.

The somewhat modified form of fecal mechanism as illustrated in Figure 5 is arranged with the axis at an angle of approxin'iatcly 30 to the horizontal and the tapered or conical portions 31 of the hopper are inclined at an angle of approximately to the said axis, so that that portion of the conical wall which occupies the UPPGIHIOSL position will be at a slight angle to the vertical, approximately 10 while the lower portions of the conical walls will be dipped below the horizontal, and this I have found produces a somewhat greater agitation of the contcnts of the hopper. Attention is also called to the fact that the base 32 if:

pivotally mounted on the stand and held in adjusted position by the wing nut 34-, so tha the inclination of the axis 30 may be varied in accordance with the articles bcing fed, as I have found that in some instances afine adjustment of the axis is necessary to produce the best and most satisfactory results. Attention is also called to the fact that the ledge 14: is-only provided upon one-half of the projection 11, as it is only necessary that the ledge extend up the side of the base up which the articles are moved or carried during the rotation of the hopper.

I have also found that in some instances it is practical to omit the slots in the conical portion of the hopper and merely provide this conical portion with a friction facing 85. This friction facing is sufficient to carry the articles upwardly and into alignment with the opening or chute 15. In this regard, attention has also been called to the construction illustrated in Figure 9, wherein the conical portion of the hopper is pro-- vided with pins or studs 36 arranged in irregular formation and which tend to aid in carrying upwardly those articles which are faced in the right direction; such changes, however, coming clearly within the scope of my invention.

Attention is called to the construction illustrated in Figure 7, wherein the conical portion of the hopper is provided with the open-ended slots 20, each of which is provided with an inwardly extending centralized recess 3'? so as to provide for the accommodation of the tacks 38, the ledge 14:A in this instance receiving the heads of the tacks thereon and holding them in proper position until they reach and align with the opening or chute 15 Those articles which have not become properly deposited within the double slot 20"--37 are not sufliciently supported by the ledge 14 and fall back to the lowermost position of the hopper. In this connection it is to be understood that any of the slots previously referred to in the conical, portion may be suliiciently long to accommodate two or more of the buttons be ing fed, such construction being illustrated in Figure 10.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the slots may partake of any desired form, according to the shape of the article being fed, and I have found it practical to feed nails, rivets, screws, eyelets, and many other similar articles.

Having thus fully described and explained my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A feeding mechanism for button heads comprising an angularly disposed rotatable hopper having inclined side walls, and a stationary bottom wall for said hopper provided with an edge projecting beyond the said inclined side walls of the hopper so that the side walls of the hopper and the edge will support a button head in substanttially a vertical position, said bottom Wall having an opening extending therein from the elevated portion of said ledge forming a substantially vertical delivery chute for the button heads brought there in front by the rotation of said hopper.

2. A feeding mechanism comprising an angularly disposed rotatable hopper having side walls inclined at an angle to the axis of said rotatable hopper, the said side Walls of the hopper provided with means for segregating a number of the button heads in the hopper, and a stationary bottom wall for said hopper having its edge beveled toform a small ledge for supporting the button heads contacting therewith, in a substantially vertical position, said bottom Wall provided with an opening therethrough and terminating at an elevated portion of said beveled edge and forming a delivery chute for the substantially vertically supported buttons as they align with said opening.

3. A feeding mechanism comprising an angularly disposed rotating hopper having side walls inclined at an angle bearing a definite relation to the inclination of the axis of said rotating hopper, the said side walls of the hopper provided with open ended slots, a stationary bottom wall for said hopper provided at its edges with a bevelled ledge forming a limited closure for said open ended slots, said bottom wall provided with an opening extending there through and terminating at an elevated portion of said. ledge and forming a delivery chute for the slots as they align therewith, said hopper provided with an internal gear, and a segmental gear meshing therewith and adapted to intermittently rotate i said hopper.

Signed at lVaterbury in the county of New Haven and State of Conn. this 24th day of July A. D. 1924.

FORREST G. PURINTON. 

